Epiphany
by Tender Falling Rain
Summary: Ranma was not pleased with how his day was turning out. He'd had ideas! Plans! Things he wanted to try! But unfortunately he was not going to get his way. Instead he found himself traipsing all the way out to Shinjuku, playing errand boy to Nabiki. But when Akane decides to tag along, things start taking an unexpected turn for the better!


Author Notes: Hey everyone! It's been a while! I'm trying to make a comeback to the writing scene, and figured I'd reintroduce myself with a piece I wrote a while back but never got around to posting. I'm going to classify it as a oneshot for now, because I realize it does work that way, but originally I'd intended it to be a brief series. I may at some point follow up with more to it, but for now, I hope you can enjoy it as is!

I've fiddled with this piece a lot and have tried different things to make it work. The relationship between Ranma and Akane here is a bit more advanced than it was at the end of the manga. I don't want to say that they are acting out of character in this story, because I do imagine that this is the way they could one day act around each other, but not without some kind of change occurring first. I tried a few times to set this up as a follow up to Simplicity because I thought that could maybe bridge the gap between the manga and this story and explain why Ranma and Akane are acting a bit more intentional about their relationship. But I think the feel of the two stories don't exactly match, and since Simplicity is one of my favorite pieces I've written to date, I don't want to follow it up with something that distorts the original tone of it. So, I guess just imagine this story takes place a little ways further down the road for them when they've become more comfortable with the idea of being with each other, and grown up a bit from their awkward bumbling early teen years.

I'm a bit nervous about this piece to be honest since it's a bit more flirty and forward than some things I've written and that embarrasses me sometimes. But oh well, I'm going to be brave and just post it! Please let me know what you think of it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 or any of the characters included within this story.

* * *

He'd had an epiphany on Sunday evening, right after the rain hit.

It had all started with a phone call from Nabiki Tendo. Nabiki had gone off earlier that day with some friends on a shopping trip to Shinjuku and had forgotten her trusted camera. Ranma owed her some money so she suggested he play delivery boy for her in order to work off some of his debt. He refused at first, but a threat about selling more photos of his girl side to Kuno canceled out his objections.

It wasn't that the errand would take him very long, an hour or two at the most, but he was rather agitated by the timing of it all. There was a horror movie marathon on that afternoon, and he had concocted a rather full proof plan to bait Akane into watching it with him. He knew perfectly well that Akane hated horror movies. They scared the heck out of her, not that she'd ever willingly admit it. However, the fact that she was constantly setting out to prove her bravery, her pride had a hard time allowing her to pass them up, especially when someone accused her of being scared.

It was a rather simple ploy, but an effective one, and it carried with it two benefits. Firstly he was given the opportunity to taunt and tease and generally terrify her, which never ceased to be fun. Secondly, and more importantly, he got to spend some time with her. It bothered him that he had to find excuses to be with her instead of asking her out with a more direct approach, but he'd learned that all the direct routes led to certain failure. More specifically, road one led to getting called a pervert, loser, and/or jerk, road two led to happy father's planning their wedding, and road three led to him getting beat up by one of his fiancés or one of her suitors. Really, not much to gain in any of those scenarios. So he went with seemingly harmless dates that on close inspection didn't truly appear to be dates at all. Just two housemates who happened to be doing the same thing at the same time. If she happened to latch onto him in fright during scary parts of the movie, or fall asleep on his shoulder, it could hardly be blamed on him.

But all his plans for the afternoon had gone to waste thanks to Nabiki. He begrudgingly retrieved her camera and had just started to put his shoes on when Akane came skipping down the stairway.

"Oh! Ranma," she called. "I was just going to go find you. There's a…" she trailed off, noticing that he was getting ready to leave. "You're going out?" she asked, hints of disappointment in her tone.

"Yeah," he grumbled. "Have to take Nabiki her stupid camera."

"Seriously? What's she got on you this time?" she asked suspiciously.

"About 5,000 yen."

"Yikes!" she responded, with a sharp intake of breath. "Well…" she hesitated, swaying slightly in indecision on the bottom step of the stairs. "Stay out of trouble," she offered in a dejected tone, as a means of parting before turning and making her way into the house.

As soon as she left the room he groaned and slammed his forehead against the wall. "When will I ever catch a break?" he lamented before exiting the Tendo household.

* * *

He arrived at the train station a few minutes later, the distance not being far, especially when he took to the rooftops. He'd hoped to get the stupid errand over with as fast as possible so something of his day could be salvaged. The train he wanted to take was just about to arrive, and he was weighing the options of either paying for a ticket or sneaking onto the roof of the cars when he heard his name being called from a slight distance back.

He turned to see Akane running towards him, slightly winded. "Akane?" He walked back towards her, meeting her the rest of the distance dividing them, and waited as she quickly composed herself and caught her breath.

"Kasumi says…" she paused, taking another labored breath before pointing up at the sky and holding out an umbrella for him. "Rain," she finished simply.

"Oh," he said in surprise. "Thank… you…"

"Sure," she beamed up at him.

Now Ranma was feeling particularly irritated. She seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood, and she looked really cute too. He hadn't noticed before, but she was wearing a pretty red dress under her open black coat. It wasn't an outfit he'd seen her wear before, and it looked a bit fancier than the cotton skirts and blouses she typically wore. It was eating at him even more than before that he wasn't going to get to spend the afternoon with her, but for the life of him he couldn't think of what to do about it.

"Hey, um," Akane started hesitantly. "If it's not too much trouble…" She trailed off and Ranma resisted the urge to groan, dreading what she was about to ask. Those words uttered by Nabiki were the ones that had gotten him stuck with the stupid errand in the first place. But when Akane continued, playing with the ends of her hair shyly he found himself pleasantly surprised by her request.

"Could I maybe tag along? There's this store I'd like to go to in Shinjuku and I…" The train pulling up with a loud screech stopped her abruptly, and instead of waiting for her to continue he turned and made his way over to the ticket fare machine leaving a confused Akane behind him. A few seconds later he returned and handed her a ticket.

She blinked at it in surprise for a moment before taking it tentatively and cocking an inquisitive brow at him. "What? We're not going to ride on top of the cars?"

He grinned down at her. "Nah, that's really more of a second date kind of thing." The moment the words left his mouth he felt his cheeks flush scarlet. _"Idiot! Did I seriously just say that out loud?"_

But Akane had taken the bait before he had a chance to retract the statement. Tapping the ticket to her lips she hummed thoughtfully before breaking into a smile. "Well then that's something to look forward to I suppose." She turned on her heal and started walking towards the train and with a grin he quickly moved to follow, thinking maybe things were looking up for him after all.

* * *

An hour later they had already met up with Nabiki. For a moment she looked as if she was going to make some comment about the fact that Akane was there as well, but instead smiled knowingly and waved goodbye. Afterwards Ranma and Akane walked around for a while, briefly popping into various shops without lingering for very long. Eventually Ranma asked, "So where are we going anyway?"

Akane looked confused by his question. "I was following you," she said.

Ranma laughed. "And I was following you. I thought there was a store you wanted to go to?"

"Oh!" Akane exclaimed, startled. "Right. Um…"

Her confusion caused Ranma to smirk. "Oh I see. There is no store. You just couldn't pass up the opportunity to be around me."

Akane turned red and bristled. "That's not it at all!" she protested. "There is a store, I just… Forgot where it is…"

"Uh huh, sure Akane. Whatever you say."

Embarrassed she spun and started back in the direction of the train station. "Oh forget it!" she yelled. "Let's just go home."

She'd gone several steps before realizing he was no longer beside her. "Ranma!?" she shouted, spinning around to find him staring at a restaurant with a look of shock and eager excitement.

"They have an all you can eat sushi restaurant!" he pointed out.

"Um, yeah… So? Haven't you ever been to one?"

He scoffed. "Yeah, with my dad the cheapskate? Not likely! You have to pay upfront," he said, digging through his pockets and grinning at what he found. "Yes! Just enough. I was saving to pay back Nabiki but now that I'm in the clear…" he finished with a shrug and a grin, making his way over to Akane, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the restaurant. "Come on Akane! I want to eat them out of business!"

"I-I don't know if I can afford it…" she protested being dragged along after him.

"Dummy," he said simply. "I already told you I have enough. My treat. Now come on!"

"O-Okay," she found herself smiling, glad for the turn of events the day had taken. _"T_ _his is working out much better than me pretending to be afraid of cheesy horror flicks,"_ she mused before they made their way inside.

* * *

"Wow!" Akane breathed, looking at the large assortment of plates making their way around the conveyor belt past their table. Ranma was of course already seated, a large pile of plates set up in front of him. Akane removed her jacket and began to lie it down neatly on the booth. "I don't know where to start! It all looks so good!" she said before sitting down.

In response, Ranma's eyes flickered up to the conveyor belt briefly and he deftly snatched a plate, placing it in front of Akane with a knowing smirk. She immediately wrinkled her nose at the red tuna sashimi on a cube of white rice. Ranma hid his grin by shoveling food into his mouth from the numerous plates in front of him.

"Ew, no thanks," Akane said, sliding the plate over to him.

"What's the matter, 'Kane?" he chuckled.

"I hate tuna," she said.

Of course he already knew that. "Okay then I dare you to eat it," he said teasingly. "It's not so bad. Don't want it to go to waste, do you?"

"That's ridiculous," she said, crossing her arms with a huff. "Why should I eat it just because you dared me?"

"Scaredy-cat," he muttered with a shrug.

Her eyes flashed and she sputtered in indignation before snapping up her chopsticks and popping the piece of sashimi in her mouth. Immediately afterwards her eyes went wide and her face wrinkled as she begrudgingly chewed and swallowed. "Yuck!"

Ranma began to laugh, satisfied with her amusing reaction. "Why do you hate tuna so much anyway?"

"It's the texture," Akane responded, taking a large gulp of water and washing the last of it down. "It reminds me of having another tongue in my mouth or something. Not pleasant at all."

Ranma smirked at her odd statement, knowing she was unaware of how it sounded. "That's just because you've never been kissed right before. Don't knock it till you've tried it."

She flushed but knowing he was just trying to get a rise out of her she decided to turn the tables on him. "Been there, done that, no thank you," she said.

His mouth dropped open in shock. "What!? How!? When!?" he stuttered.

She rolled her eyes at his response. "You kissed me," she answered matter-of-factly.

He deflated abruptly. "Dummy! I was a cat! That wasn't like a real kiss anyway," he said chugging his glass of water in an attempt to calm himself down.

She shrugged. "Seemed real enough to me. Honestly for the longest time I thought you were faking the whole cat thing. After all I wouldn't expect a cat to use so much tongue…"

Ranma immediately spewed water and started to cough violently. _"How can I not remember this?!"_ his mind screamed at him.

Akane began to giggle, leaning over and flicking his forehead with her fingers. "Gotcha!" she said before turning back to the sushi plates, with a wide grin.

Ranma breathed a sigh of relief and attempted to be miffed at her prank, but really, all he could do was smile in turn.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon had continued flawlessly. They wandered around town, enjoying each other's company, no hesitation or awkwardness in their conversation. Ranma couldn't remember a time he'd laughed so much, and looking over at Akane's happy face, he took a rare opportunity to revel in the beauty of her smile. Eventually though, it had grown late, and the sun was starting to set. They reluctantly made their way to a bus stop, as they'd wandered too far to walk back to the train station before it got dark. They waited then with contented grins, passing the time by watching couples walk by and making up conversations they might be having with each other.

"Thanks for carrying my bags, cuddle-bear," Akane said in a sugary, high pitched voice, grinning and nodding towards a dainty looking young woman who was walking next to a man overladen with shopping bags.

"Sure, chickadee, but *huff* did you have to buy two weight lifting sets?" Ranma responded in a grunting, wheezing low pitched voice.

"Oh but schnookums, I had a buy one, get one half off coupon! You know me! I can never resist a good bargain!"

"And the *huff* tool kit? Do you even know how to use a screwdriver?"

"No, but the set was such a cute shade of pink. Besides, it worries me, a helpless girl like me, living alone in that big old apartment. What if something breaks?"

"That's when you give me a call, baby."

"Oh love-muffin! But what if I'm with my other boyfriend at the time? He doesn't know a thing about fixing appliances!"

"Then you call me anyway, sweet-cakes. I'll even take out that trash for you."

"Oh geez," Akane laughed, breaking out of the ruse and slapping his chest. "That's just sad."

"No worries, it'll pay off in the end. When they get back to her place…"

Akane spun to face him, taking up the sugary voice again, she fluttered her eyelashes, and clasped her hands behind her back. "I had a wonderful time today, honey-bear."

"Well I certainly hope so. Now pucker up sugar lips, I didn't carry your bags all over Tokyo for nothing," he said, grabbing her upper arms.

She half gasped half giggled. "On our very first date! Why shmoopsie, how bold!"

"Better believe it, sweetheart," he said before placing his hand over her mouth and dipping her low, pretending to kiss her, while making slopping, disgusting kissing noises.

"Ew! Ew!" Akane giggled, squirming and pushing away from him. "Ranma! Cut it out!" He did as she asked, spinning her back upright, as she continued to laugh wiping tears from her eyes. "You my friend have been watching way too many cheesy romance flicks."

"Have not!" he protested. "That's all original Ranma baby."

"Uh huh, tell me another one?"

"Um, who?" he asked looking around for someone to imitate.

"No one. Just you. And me. Try a line. If you're so good, who knows, maybe it'll get you somewhere?"

"Uh…" he said, his mind freezing up abruptly. "Yeah well… You see uh… You… You, uh look different today."

"Different?" she asked, her curiosity peaked.

"Yeah, you're uh, not as un-cute as usual."

"Oh yeah, really smooth. Careful. I might swoon," she said flatly.

"No really, though," he said, suddenly intent on looking at her closer. "You do look different."

She seemed nervous suddenly, avoiding eye contact. "I do not…" she began.

"Are you wearing makeup?"

Her face immediately flushed. "What!? No! Don't be ridiculous!"

"You are! And is that my perfume?"

Her face scrunched and she gave him a queer look. " _Your_ perfume!?"

"D-Don't look at me like that! You know I only use it for disguises."

"Sure, Ranma," she rolled her eyes. "But for your information, no it is not your perfume."

"A-ha! But that means you are wearing some!"

"I-If you must know, it was a gift for my birthday. I just wanted to try it out is all. It doesn't _mean_ anything."

"Doesn't mean anything that you wore makeup, a new dress, perfume and followed me all the way out here to Shinjuku claiming you wanted to visit some made up shop that doesn't exist?"

"Shut up! D-Dummy!" she yelled in embarrassment swinging a punch at him.

He dodged, catching her wrist. "A-ha," he laughed. "There's the tomboy I know."

"Ranma!" she growled.

"Relax, 'Kane, I had fun. And you do look nice you know."

She halted looking up at him in surprise. "R-Really?"

"You always do," he continued reaching up and brushing his fingers through her hair. She froze at the touch, stunned. Suddenly realizing what he was doing he quickly devised an excuse for it. "You uh, have some lint or something in your hair though."

He concentrated on removing the imaginary debris in her hair for a moment, before his eyes drifted back to her face, and he pulled his hand away. He was caught looking into her eyes then, and within them he saw reflected the same feeling of longing that he felt. A blush started to form on her cheeks, and after chewing on her lip hesitantly for a moment she tilted her chin upwards and her eyelids drooped to a half lidded gaze.

In response his eyes went wide and he leaned away slightly. "A-Akane… What…?"

She huffed in agitation and rolled her eyes. "Dummy. What are you waiting for? A formal invitation?" she hissed before rising up on her toes slightly so she was closer to his own height.

His mouth fell open in shock. "Uh, uh no, I just… I mean, what makes you think I want to… With uh, an un-cute tomboy like you…" Immediately his hand slapped over his mouth, and his eyes went wide in fright. _"What am I saying? Of course I want to! Idiot…"_

Unfortunately it was too late. Her heals stomped back down flat with a loud thud that splintered the pavement and she turned, stepping away. "Hmph. Scaredy-cat," she fumed under her breath.

"What was that?" Ranma yelled.

"I called _you_ a scaredy-cat!" she spat back over her shoulder before looking away again, her arms crossed over her chest. "I don't know why I'm always so worried about you hanging around other girls. Clearly you couldn't make a move if your life depended on it!"

"Hey now! I'm not afraid of nothing! 'Specially no stupid girls!"

"Whatever," she said with a wave of her hand. "Forget it."

"I said I'm not scared!" he insisted.

Looking back she spared him a pointed glance, saying nothing, but quirking her eyebrow in a silent challenge. That was all it took. Ranma was never one to resist a challenge. Setting his jaw, his anger and competitive nature washed away his hesitations. He took three purposeful strides forwards, grabbed her arm and pulled her against him.

"Take it back, Akane," he said, his voice a low growl, as he stared down at her.

She was tense and her eyes were full of fire, but she didn't back down, instead smirking and glaring up at him. "Make me."

He wanted to. Oh how he wanted to. Not just to get that annoying smirk off her face but because… His anger dissipated, and his expression grew softer. _"Because I want to…"_ The hand he had gripping her arm gave way and instead slid to her back, positioning her accordingly. His other hand went to her cheek, sliding into her hair, and to the back of her neck where he tilted her head upwards.

He could see at once she'd noticed it too, the shift in the mood. Her face was once more flushed crimson. Her breath hitched as her eyes alternated between flickering from his lips to his eyes, her whole body awash with nervous tension. And he smiled, content in the knowledge that this wasn't just a challenge. This was what they both wanted, and had wanted for quite some time. Slowly he descended, both pairs of eyes fluttering shut…

Just as the rain hit…

Instead of hitting her lips, his forehead ended up bumping her chin as his stature shrunk and immediately he thrust himself away from her, the transformation taking effect.

Akane's eyes snapped open in the rush of movement and immediately found her very frustrated, very female fiancé pacing around in wide figure eights while spitting out a string of profanity and cursing the heavens. Akane let out a ragged sigh and flicked open the umbrella, ignoring the way her whole body shook and twitched with pent up adrenaline and nervousness. "Kasumi did say it would rain," she muttered numbly, just as the bus pulled up in front of them.

And then it hit Ranma like a ton of bricks. _"I was too slow…"_ He had just spent the entire day with Akane, alone, with no interruptions. He could have chosen to kiss her at practically any point, but he hadn't. He'd wasted the whole day, and then the moment he went to make a move, something interfered. It was always that way. Their so called windows of opportunity were illusions, placed to set them up for failure and disappointment, never letting them act on their impulses. Fate simply enjoyed taunting them, dangling the proverbial carrot in their faces before snatching it away at the last second.

Ranma's eyes narrowed in anger. Fate was a jerk. Fate was a tease. Fate was his new greatest enemy, and he was going to take it down. If fate wanted to tease him with a brief window, then all he had to do was be faster than fate, and seize the moment before it was gone. He had to admit now, he'd been inexcusably slow in the past, hesitating far too long…

"Let's go Ranma," Akane called, disappointment still evident in her voice, bringing him back to the present as she stepped onto the bus and he hurried to follow her. He'd been in no rush for the full afternoon, but suddenly the trip home couldn't go fast enough. He had the sudden urge to take a long hot bath, and plan out his next move. Fate had won that round, and the numerous ones proceeding it. But Ranma would not remain defeated.

He was eager for a rematch.

~ Owari ~

* * *

End notes:

True story: I hate raw tuna… It does in fact remind me of tongue. Yuck.

So for now I'm gonna call this a oneshot and end it like that. Sorry for the tease, but let's be honest, there are plenty of canon arcs that ended on a similar unresolved note. Imagine as you will what would happen next. I mean I have some ideas and scenes written but chances are I wouldn't have the courage to post it, or the time to work on it. Heh. I find the idea of writing a story where Ranma is more aggressive and purposeful with his advances appealing but simultaneously incredibly awkward and embarrassing. I do however maintain that it's perfectly believable he'd get his act together if he felt like fate was his newest opponent and he was determined to best it. He does hate losing!

I like the idea of Ranma and Akane going on an unintended date and flirting rather overtly with each other. I can't really see it happening this easily but it is a fun idea. And the whole pretending to kiss someone and acting out conversations of random people passing by is one of those awkward silly teen things I've witnessed and been a part of back in my younger days. It's one of those weird phenomenon activities where you can't really get up the courage to confess to your crush that you like them but you play all kinds of weird suggestive games and ask awkward embarrassing questions that heavily hint at the fact. Maybe I'm old but that's how teen dating was done back in my day! Lol. Soooo yeah, I don't know if I can see Ranma and Akane doing this, but I can see some couples doing this for sure!

Bleh! Okay, before I chicken out... Save and Post! Ja ne!

~C~


End file.
